The Truth of What Was Said: On Editing Interview Transcripts

I've found in editing the text for the
Dave Hoover and
George Mendonca
pages that the truth lies deep within the content in the actual interview.
Truth is indeed relative when one has the power to manipulate data and the
skill to make others believe your version. It is quite scary to see that
as long as it makes sense, the reader accepts someone's edition of another
person's speech in blind faith.

The process started with me watching
the actual film twice and discussing it with Professor Rosenheim. I then
examined 294 (more or less) pages of material, including 263 pages of
transcripts of the four interviews. I thought about what I saw and read
and I rethought what I saw and read, and finally sat down to condense the
134 pages on Hoover and Mendonca and the related background info into a
coherent story. Write and organize, write and organize; rewriting and
reorganizing until everything seemed right. I put the two pieces together
from what was authentic but organized them to the extent that they seemed
more real and logical to me than the raw transcripts.

It really struck me as I uncovered more
information how eerily similar the stories of Hoover and Mendonca were.
At first glance, you see this newspaper journalist succumb to his
childhood calling of following in the footsteps of Clyde Beatty. Then
there's a topiary gardener who has grown up in a garden, knowing nothing
else, and will ultimately die in one. Strangely enough, each in his own
way comes to create his own miraculous world of wild animals.

George Mendonca seemed to be the most
difficult to work with (in terms of editing) because he said the same
things more than twice and often sidetracked during the interview (At one
point, he went on to talk about Newport, RI for a few pages). Dave Hoover
had more interesting stories to tell and told them in such a way as to tie
in with the nitty-gritty of his profession as a wild-animal trainer.

Ultimately, my sifting through the
original interview transcripts has given me the luxury of seeing the world
from the eyes of these four eccentrics, with an element of purity and
authenticity that was totally out of my control at the very beginning.
The film takes on a whole new meaning when you really learn who these
people are and where they came from. I have attempted to tell you the
complete story. Whether or not I've done a good job of telling you the
truth is up for you to decide.